Last Updated on September 21, 2016 by CCAR Staff
POMONA >> An unlicensed driver who drove off after fatally injuring a homeless man in a wheelchair in Pomona last weekend pleaded no contest Wednesday to felony charges and was sentenced to nearly three years in state prison.
Alejandro Ambriz, 43, of Ontario entered his plea to one count each of hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury, driving or taking a vehicle without consent and driving a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license, according to Sarah Ardalani of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Charles Atterbury, 49, was killed at 11:12 p.m. Sunday in the 900 block of West Holt Avenue. Atterbury had been using a wheelchair since losing a leg when hit by a vehicle in the same area about two years ago, police said.
Ambriz was identified as the driver of the gray 2004 four-door Saab sedan that slammed into Atterbury after an anonymous witness came forward upon seeing a news broadcast about the hit-and-run, according to Pomona police Sgt. Robert DeVee.
The vehicle belonged to Ambriz’s employer, a used car dealership in Ontario, and he did not have a valid driver’s license at the time of the crash, DeVee said.
Ambriz called a friend to pick him up and recover the vehicle, which had been taken to a nearby auto body shop in Montclair, DeVee said. It wasn’t immediately clear if his friend was being investigated.
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